Movie notes: No no-shows … yet

It’s only the first week of the year, but 2007 is already off to a better start than 2006 on the movie front.

Why? Well, some pretty good movies are opening this weekend (“Freedom Writers,” “Little Children,” “Perfume: The Story of a Murderer,” “Children of Men”). And everything is being screened for critics, even potentially baddies like “Code Name: The Cleaner” and “Happily N’Ever After.”

Believe me, it’s not always like this. The frist weekend after New Year’s usually features the sound of crickets — i.e. a vast emptiness punctuated with mediocre Hollywood leftovers such as “White Noise” or “Chasing LIberty.” That changed last year, but not for the better — replaced by the scrambling sound of three fearful mainstream films (“Hostel,” “Grandma’s Boy” and “BloodRayne”) running from the critics.

Starring Cedric the Entertainer, “Code Name: The Cleaner” almost became the year’s first no-show. The screening isn’t until tonight, which means it’s designed to make things difficult for critics and newspapers. But not impossible, as you should see tomorrow. A lowbrow comedy, it certainly fit the no-show profile.

The other surprise is “Happily N’Ever After,” an animated Cinderella rewrite that hadn’t exactly received the best buzz. The skinny from the Internet Movie Database: “Even with the idea of Sarah Michelle Gellar (the voice of Ella the heroine) getting back in a fighting mood, this movie makes us barf a little bit everytime someone dares speak of it.” But they screened it last night anyway.